The Circular Future - A Quantum Lifecycle Partners podcast
Welcome to the Circular Future – a podcast that facetimes you with the challenges of e-waste and its impact on the world. Join Stephanie McLarty, Head of Sustainability at Quantum Lifecycle Partners, as she interviews industry thinktanks who share their insights on the trends in reuse and recycling of technology. This podcast is for you if you are responsible for managing your company’s electronics or are simply curious about all things e-waste, sustainability, carbon emissions, data security and more. Each episode finishes with actionable advice for business managers and leaders to do their part in helping build a circular future.
The Circular Future - A Quantum Lifecycle Partners podcast
37. Electric Vehicles vs. Gas: Cost and Experience for Long Work Trips
How much would you save on an 800-kilometer work trip by choosing an electric vehicle over a gas-powered one? In this episode, we break down the costs and logistics of a journey from Hamilton to North Bay, Ontario. We discuss not only the stark difference in fuel expenses—$150 for gas versus $56 for an EV—but also the time and planning considerations involved. Discover how the seamless integration of charging stops into the EV's system makes a compelling case for electric vehicles, not just from a financial perspective but also in terms of reducing your carbon footprint.
Ever wonder how full self-driving features could transform your long-distance travel experience? Join us as we share personal anecdotes about the perks of this advanced technology, including reduced driver fatigue and a more relaxed arrival at your destination. We also touch on the broader impact of electrifying transportation on our environment and how these advancements are steering us toward a more sustainable future. Don't miss out on practical insights and real-world applications of EV technology that could make your daily commutes and business trips more efficient and eco-friendly.
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Gas versus EV. What is the difference in cost, time and emissions of driving an electric vehicle versus gas car for an 800 kilometer work trip? Welcome to the Circular Future. Your access to thought leaders and innovations to help you be a business sustainability champion, even if it's not your core job. I'm your host. Stephanie McLarty, head of Sustainability at Quantum Lifecycle Partners.
Speaker 1:Understanding transportation emissions is something that is becoming increasingly important on both a business and individual level. Last week, I weighed this very question of how to get to Quantum's warranty repair location in North Bay, ontario. Should I take our gas-powered vehicle or our electric vehicle, our EV? What were the implications of each method of transportation? But before we get into this analysis, here's a few updates you may be interested in. But before we get into this analysis, here's a few updates you may be interested in. First off, we've got some exciting news in the world of recycling and sustainability. Call to Recycle Canada and Quantum Lifecycle Partners are joining forces to make battery recycling easier in Quebec. And that's not all. Quantum is helping folks across Canada make a big impact this October during Circular Economy Month. Whether you're a company or a community group, we are helping organizations like yours to set up e-waste pickup drives. And here's the cool part Through Quantum's donation program, you can turn your old tech into a force for good. You can donate the value to a charity you love or use it to get needed equipment for a local group. And finally, on the podcast front, thanks to all the great feedback on our previous episode number 36, on the new green washing legislation in Canada. We really appreciate your feedback, so keep it coming.
Speaker 1:Okay, back to our gas versus EV analysis. This is something we're starting to do at Quantum on a company level as we analyze options to reduce our transportation emissions and our commuting emissions. Electrifying transportation is certainly one way to do that. Where it is possible. We covered a fascinating case study of shipping freight between the different methods of diesel, truck, ev, semi-truck and rail in our third episode, so you might want to check that out.
Speaker 1:It's easier to look at the gas versus EV debate on a personal level, since that is actually a choice available today, at least for my family. My husband and I have both an electric vehicle a Tesla Model Y and a gas-powered SUV a Hyundai Tucson. Gas versus EV on a personal level is also important because these will make up the emissions for commuting and business travel, which is in our scope three supply chain emissions. So I had to make that choice for my trip to Quantum's North Bay location. This site has been known as Paragon Bay since Quantum acquired this company in December 2023. And, on a side note, I was really excited to finally see this location. It is quite different from Quantum's other locations. We do in-warranty repairs there as well as out-of-warranty repairs and a host of other fulfillment services in the zero to three-year lifespan of a product. So it's kind of like the spirit of reuse applied in a different way than our ITAD or recycling facilities, which focus on the age of three years and well beyond of a product.
Speaker 1:Okay, I digress back to the analysis. So North Bay is about 400 kilometers, or about 250 miles for American listeners. North Bay is about 400 kilometers, or about 250 miles for our American listeners one way from my home in the Hamilton area. That makes it 800 kilometers or 500 miles round trip. Would it make sense to take our EV or our gas car?
Speaker 1:I looked at the fuel cost, the time factor and the emissions generated with each method. So let's start with cost. So let's start with cost. By cost in this case I mean fuel cost, gas for the Tucson and electricity for the Tesla. Let's start with the gas cost. To do the trip there and back it would take about a tank and a half of gas Filling up at roughly $1.50 per litre. This total would be $150 in total for both directions.
Speaker 1:The cost of electricity for the EV is a bit more complex. We charge the Tesla at home overnight and we're on the new ultra-low overnight rate plan where electricity is only $0.02 per kWh between 11pm and 7am. So what does that actually mean in this context? How much do we spend on electricity each month to charge the car? Well, I looked at our bills and it's only $15 to $30 per month in electricity for the car. Yeah, you heard that. It only costs us $15 to $30 to fuel our car each month at home. Let's estimate that a full charge from basically zero to 100% overnight might cost $5, and we're probably being generous there.
Speaker 1:Then there's the supercharging along the way. The cost there is usually 56 cents per kilowatt hour to get this super fast charge. I stopped once on the way to North Bay for about 10 minutes, charged up while I was in North Bay and then a quick charge on the way back. The total for all the charging. The supercharging, I should say, was about $51. So the total for the EV was about $56, including the overnight charging the night before. Compare that to the gas vehicle of $150 and the EV wins out on the fuel consideration. Had we had EV chargers in North Bay, like some of our other sites, the cost would have decreased for the EV even further, would have decreased for the EV even further.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's look at the time factor. Is it faster to take the gas car versus the EV? And hey, I'm not talking about the speed of the car here, for that the EV would definitely win out. I'm talking about the total trip length, especially considering the need to charge. When I plugged the address into Google Maps, it said it was about four hours driving straight. That's what we'll consider as the baseline for our gas vehicle.
Speaker 1:For the EV, when you plug the destination on the car screen, it automatically calculates where you need to stop to charge and for how long. To get to North Bay. It said I should stop at the superchargers in Bracebridge for five minutes. So that's it, just a quick five-minute stop. I would have done that anyway in the gas vehicle for a quick break in a four-hour journey. An advantage of the EV is that I can take the high occupancy vehicle, or HOV lanes, as a single occupant. That basically means it saves me time and hassle. I also used the full self-driving function for a lot of the journey. I'll talk more about that later. In North Bay I had to power back up at the superchargers there, which was about 25 minutes. I grabbed dinner during this time, which is something I would have done anyway if I had driven the gas car. So, all in all, the time factor was not really different between the vehicles. We'll call it a tie.
Speaker 1:Finally, let's look at the emissions aspect. For both vehicles. To drive the gas vehicle 800 kilometers, the emissions were around 0.17 tons of CO2e, that's carbon dioxide equivalent. To calculate the emissions from the EV, we have to look at the emissions from the electricity that fuels it. The emissions from electricity vary greatly from province to province, all depending on how much fossil fuels are used to power the grid. In Ontario the power grid is quite low carbon and when I plugged this trip into our emissions calculator, the answer actually came back as zero. Not that it was truly zero, but it didn't register after two decibel points. So advantage EV on the emissions front, and no surprise there. So, when I took these three factors into consideration, the time factor was a tie, but both fuel cost and emissions favored the EV. So I took the Tesla and had a great trip. The EV. So I took the Tesla and had a great trip.
Speaker 1:I will say there are a host of other factors that may play into the decision making for something like this. The biggest caveat is the EV itself the range and the time it takes the car to charge. I say this from experience. We used to have a 2013 Tesla Model S, and, hands down, it would have produced a very different result in this analysis. That's because it had 350 kilometers of range in the end and took twice as long to charge as our new Model Y. I would have, for sure, had to stop twice to charge and take significantly more time while charging.
Speaker 1:The time factor would have placed a big advantage for the gas vehicle. As a side note, I will say that we loved that old Tesla and had no intention of replacing it Until the air conditioning broke and it was going to cost over $8,000 to replace the whole system. With 320,000 kilometers on that car, it was only worth that much. The battery, though, was still great for its age at 85% of its original range left. So in many ways the battery outlasted the rest of the car and that's in line with the latest studies on batteries. Most will last 15 to 20 years. Other factors you might think about in this analysis the upfront cost of the vehicle. Gas definitely wins out here. The emissions during production of the vehicle the short-term advantage is the gas vehicle, but EVs usually surpass gas vehicles for lifecycle emissions within one to three years of operating them, since the emissions savings on the fuel side is so significant. Flexibility might be another factor and gas has the advantage here. Say, I wanted to grab dinner halfway home, I still would have had to charge first.
Speaker 1:Evs require a little bit more thinking ahead. Driver fatigue Now our EV on this one has the advantage since we have the full self-driving function. We basically set the destination and let the car drive. Think of it like being a manager versus doer of the work. You supervise the car and step in when needed. Honestly, the full self-driving mode took a while for me to get comfortable with, but for longer, uncomplicated driving trips it is great and does the heavy lifting, so we feel a bit more refreshed, I'd say, reaching the destination. All in all, some food for thought as we look to create a sustainable, circular future. And remember, if you are looking for a leader in electronics reuse and recycling, we'd love to chat. Head on over to quantumlifecyclecom and contact us. This is a Quantum Lifecycle podcast and the producer is Sanjay Trivedi. Thank you for being a Circular Future Champion in your company and beyond. Locking off.
